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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.